Having done Zelda and now Mario, I think I might end up with a long run of
Nintendo-game-related articles.

Super Mario Galaxy was one of the launch titles for the Nintendo Wii back in
2006 when the system was still nigh impossible to find on store shelves. Wait a
few years and it becomes surprisingly easy to find, however, not cheaper. Unlike
Sony, who tends to drop their best-selling title prices soon after launch,
Nintendo keeps prices high and even today a copy of Mario Galaxy runs for $40.54
on Amazon, a mere $6.37 cheaper than it’s recently released sequel. Writing a
review of such an old game on a gaming-blog is probably preaching to the choir.
Get used to it, I plan on writing many more articles about even older hit
titles.

First Impression

Super Mario Galaxy contains the same amount of plot expoltation as the original
Super Mario for the NES: a hair-thin plot of a giant turtle kidnapping a
princess, and the red-suited man who goes to save her. Mario is and never was
much for plots, nor should it be! Mario is all about giving someone an excuse to
explore the imaginative spaces of level designers. The collecting of coins,
stars, and defeating of bosses are just a thin glossing to give gamers
incentives to pick around through each of the game’s many “galaxies.” Because of
this, Super Mario Galaxy realizes, much better than Super Mario Sunshine, the
game-play that made Super Mario 64 so compelling to play through and complete.

To get an idea of Super Mario Galaxy’s gameplay simply imagine Super Mario 64,
but wrap each stage into a sphere with its own gravitational pull. Mario leaps,
bounces, and flies between these spheres landing on one or another and often
running up walls. Intermixed amongst this is more traditional levels in which
gravity is clearly down and leaping off the edge causes death.The opening stage
expresses the creative potential of the game and the gravity-bending aspects
will contribute to future stages as they produce increasingly surrealistic
playgrounds for exploration.

At this point in the game my only complaint is against the musical score and
progression. The tempo, much faster than earlier Mario games, tended to
discourage idle exploration in the earlier stages. I felt rushed to run through
each level, grab the star and move on to the next level. Perhaps because of this
fast tempo, the rewards in the early stages come too quickly. I collected many
of the stars necessary to unlock the advanced stages in just a few hours, and
(to my surprise) was able to beat the game with only 60 of the 120 stars in the
game. Thus, I beat Koopa long before I even had a taste of the game’s true
potential. I can imagine that this quick progression is because of the title’s
launch status. If Nintendo intended this game to attract new gamers than a
difficult learning curve might put them off from future game purchases.

The Mid-game

Super Mario Galaxy wins back whatever scorn I might put upon it in the latter
half of the game. After beating Koopa, all new coin-collecting stages appear
which encourages a much more methodical approach to the galaxies. The pacing
also slows in later galaxies and the time spent completing puzzles in a level to
advance and collect each star lengthens as the levels progressively get larger
and more complex. The result is that the more experienced gamer who progresses
on to collect all 120 stars is rewarded with a much more engaging game even
while the new-comer can collect the reward of “winning” early on. Secret stars
compound this by sending Mario back to old galaxies looking for alternative
routes to completing each stage, and “prankster” comets mix up the levels by
adding extra difficulty through time-limits, faster enemies, ghost-races, and
on-hit-kills health.

Conclusion

It took me 20 – 30 hours of play to collect all 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy,
which puts it on par with the length of most contemporary games. As an
introduction to the Nintendo Wii, I think Super Mario Galaxy makes a great game
and one that I think Nintendo hoped would demonstrate the possibilities of
reinvisioning older game genres with their new control scheme. It is a pity that
Wii Sports became the real champion of the system rather than Super Mario
Galaxy, as there is a glut of mini-game Wii titles, and very few platformers of
Super Mario Galaxy’s caliber.

About

Joseph Hallenbeck attended the RTIS program at DigiPen Institute of Technology, studied Victorian-era literature at the University of Oxford, and graduated from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD with a B.A. in Philosophy and English Literature. He has worked as an interpretive ranger, naturalist, and caver for the National Park Service and is now employed as a Software Engineer at Research Square in Durham, NC.